Karighatta is a hill situated a few kilometres outside the 'island' town of Srirangapatna. It is situated off the

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

Highway just before Srirangapatna in Karnataka state of India.

Etymology

The name Karighatta translates to "Elephant Hill" in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

. The hill has a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temple devoted to a form of

god

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

, called "Karigirivasa". This deity is also referred to as "Lord Srinivasa" and is also called "Bairagi Venkataramana". The epithet ‘Bairagi’ for this idol is derived from the fact that when ‘alankara’ (flower decoration) is done to the deity, the deity looks like a Bairagi ( mendicant).

Geography

The hill stands at a height of 2697 feet above sea level. It supports dry scrub jungle and many

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae ...

and gooseberry trees are found around the temple. A small river, Lokapavani, a tributary of

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri (hill), Karnataka, Brahmagiri range in th ...

flows by the hill.

Structure of the temple

The main entrance to the temple, with huge wooden doors opens into a large quadrangle, which is the main shrine for Vaikunta Srinivasa in black stone, flanked by Yoga Srinivasa (without his consort) and Bhoga Srinivasa idols. The temple of Goddess Padmavathi is on the western side. Facing the main temple is a statue of

Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda ...

and a Garudasthamba. There is also a Kalyana Mantapa (marriage hall) which is used for performing marriages and other functions.An article
from

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Print ...

about Karighatta It is believed that the great sage

Bhrigu Bhrigu ( sa, भृगु, ) was a rishi in Hinduism. He was one of the seven great sages, the Saptarshis, one of the many Prajapatis (the facilitators of Creation) created by Brahma. The first compiler of predictive astrology, and also the ...

has done the Prathishthapana (installation ceremony) of the deity.

Access

The hill may be climbed by stone steps (450 in number). A winding paved road is used for vehicular transport. The stone steps lead to a flat hilltop where the temple stands. The hillock has a superb panoramic view of Srirangapatna and

. The beautiful landscape around the hill and the confluence of the

and Lokapavani rivers can be seen from atop the hill. The famous Nimishamba (the incarnation of Parvathi, the goddess wife of Lord

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

) temple is on the opposite bank of the Lokapavani river. This temple too can be clearly seen from the top of the Karighatta hill. It is a belief that Parvathi will clear all the problems and troubles of her devotees within a minute (''nimisha'' in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

), and hence the name. Srinivasa Temple on Karighatta Mountain

Mythology

It is referred in

Varaha Purana The ''Varaha Purana'' ( sa, वराह पुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text from the Puranas genre of literature in Hinduism. It belongs to the Vaishnavism literature corpus praising Narayana (Vishnu), but includes chapters dedicated to prais ...

as ‘Neelachala’, a Sanskrit word, which means 'Blue Mountain.'. It is believed that performing some aesthetic poojas (worship) at this temple could bring a lot of relief to the sufferings one may have gone through in life. It is said that the hill got its name after a wild elephant, Kari attacked and killed four girls taking bath. To bring them back to life Sage Kutsamuni undertook a rigorous penance and requested the Lord to save His devotees. Another legend has it that during the building of the bridge to Lanka to bring back

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

Sugreeva ''This character is about the vanara, in the Ramayana.'' Sugriva ( sa, सुग्रीव, , ) is a character In the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. He is the younger brother of Vali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara kingdom of Kish ...

brought this hillock, also called ‘Neelachala’ from Tirumala (Thirupathi). On his way several Vishnubhakhtas (disciples of Lord Vishnu) pleaded with him to leave it here and so the hill remained here. At the temple premises, there are sharp grasses, ''

Eragrostis cynosuroides ''Eragrostis'' is a large and widespread genus of plants in the grass family, found in many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands. ''Eragrostis'' is commonly known as lovegrass or canegrass. The name of the genus is derived fr ...

'' locally known as ''Dharbe hullu(grass)'' in

, which is used for performing all sacred rites. In "Varaha Purana" it is said that when Lord

took the incarnation of

Varaha Varaha ( sa, वराह, , "boar") is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. Varaha is most commonly associated with the leg ...

and shook his body some of the body hair fell on the ground near here the grass now seen here is believed to have come from his hair. Legend has it that it was on this hill that the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

had placed their cannons during the siege of Srirangapatnam.

Temple Festivals

The traditional car festival held every year is believed to have been initiated by sage Vaikhanasa as early as the

Treta Yuga ''Treta Yuga'', in Hinduism, is the second and second best of the four '' yugas'' (world ages) in a '' Yuga Cycle'', preceded by '' Krita (Satya) Yuga'' and followed by '' Dvapara Yuga''. ''Treta Yuga'' lasts for 1,296,000 years (3,600 divine ye ...

. This practice is being continued and annual fair takes place during

Kumbha A kumbha ( sa, कुम्भ) is a type of pottery in India. Traditionally, it is made by Kumbhars, also known as ''Prajapati''s. In the context of Hindu, Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism tra ...

Masa Palguna (February-March), when a large number of pilgrims attend.

Travel

Karighatta Temple is connected by different modes of transport. Buses are available from Srirangapatna and other neighboring towns. After reaching Mysore it may not be difficult to reach this hill. But you must carry water, food and other requirements for use. No accommodation. You can just visit the temple enjoy the nature’s beauty for few hours and return. Temple timings: 10am to 2pm and on government holidays 10am to 7pm.

References

External links

{{Hindu temples in Karnataka Hindu temples in Mysore district